The Breakfast Club: An American Girl style!
by Michael Vinas
Summary: Five girls spend a Saturday in detention.
1. Saturday detention

**NOTE: I do not own American Girl or the Breakfast Club!** I intend no copyright infringement.

PROLOGUE: Five young girls meet at a Saturday detention on April 25, 2009. The school is at George Lane County Park in Quartz Hill, California. West Avenue L8.

Molly McIntire: Andrew Clark [Athlete]

Mrs. Ziminsky: Principal Richard Vernon

Kit Kittredge: Brian Johnson [Brain]

Charlotte Campbell: The Janitor

Rebecca Rubin: John Bender [Criminal]

Samantha Parkington: Claire Standish [Princess]

Felicity Merriman: Allison Reynolds [Basket case]

_Saturday, April 25, 2009. 6:55 AM American Girl Elementary School. Quartz Hill, California 93536_

_Dear Mrs. Ziminsky,_

_We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. Even though what we did WAS wrong, we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. What do you care? I mean, you see us as you want to see us. In the simplest of terms, the most convenient of definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal. Correct? That's the way we saw each other at 7:00 this morning. We were brainwashed._

Samantha and her uncle were sitting in their 1904 Packard. Samantha is wearing her blue holiday coat with a hat.

"I can't believe you can't get me out of this, it's so absurd that I have detention on a Saturday, it's not like I'm a defective or anything," Samantha groaned to her uncle.

"I'll make it up to you. Sweetie, ditching class to go shopping never makes you defective. Have a good day," her uncle said. Samantha rolls her eyes and gets out of the car and walks up the school front steps.

Kit and uncle Hendrick were in their car, Kit is wearing blue overalls with a white shirt underneath and Uncle Hendrick was wearing a black suit and maroon tie. "Is this the first time or the last time I do this?" he said angrily to Kit.

"Last," Kit said.

"Well, stop pouting and get your worthless little butt in there!" Uncle Hendrick barked.

"But uncle Hendrick, not supposed to study; we just have to sit there and do nothing," Kit said.

"Well, _you_ figure out a way to study!" Uncle Hendrick said.

"Go on, now!" Uncle Hendrick finished. Kit walks towards the school.

Molly and her father were in their car. Molly is wearing her Miss Victory tap outfit.

"I know, Olly-Molly. Girls like to screw around, I screwed around when I was your age. There's nothing wrong with that. Except you got caught, sweetheart," Molly's dad said.

"Yeah, Mom already reemed me, all right?" Molly said.

"You want to miss the show? You want to blow your ride? Now no school's gonna give a scholarship to a discipline case," Molly's dad said angrily. Molly gets out of the car and walks into the school. Rebecca was walking her way to school, she is wearing a red drop waisted dress with black velvet trim and gold buttons. A car is coming towards her but she doesn't stop walking. The car slams on its breaks directly in front of her. Felicity got out of the car. She is wearing a yellow tea lesson gown. She steps forward to look in the car's front window and the car drives away.

There are six tables in two rows of three. Samantha is sitting at the front table. Kit comes in and sits at the table behind her. Molly comes in and points at the chair next to Samantha at the front table. She shrugs and she sits there. Rebecca comes, she touches everything on the checkout desk and takes a few things in the process. She walks over to where Kit is sitting and points to the table on the opposite side of the Library. Kit reluctantly gets up and moves. Rebecca sits at the table where Kit was and puts her feet up. Felicity walks in. She walks all the way around the library and sits in the back corner table, just behind Kit. Molly and Samantha look at each other and snicker. Kit looks at her in confusion and then turns away.

Mrs. Ziminsky walked into the room, she was holding 5 papers and pencils. Looking serious as she walks in.

"Well, well," she replied in a dull, cold tone. "Here we are. I'd like to congratulate you all for actually being on time." The library clock read 7:04.

Samantha raised her hand. "Excuse me, Mrs. Ziminsky," she said. "I think this is a mistake. I know this is detention, but I don't belong here."

Mrs. Ziminsky ignored her. "It's now 7:04," she said, checking her watch. "You have exactly 8 hours and 55 minutes to think about why you are here. Ponder the error in your ways."

As she talked, Rebecca spit into the air and caught it back into her mouth. Samantha groans in disgust.

"You may not talk," Mrs. Ziminsky replied to Samantha. "You will NOT move from these seats," catching Kit moving from seat-to-seat.

"And you will not sleep," Mrs. Ziminsky said to Rebecca as she pulls the chair away from her. Mrs. Ziminsky continues, "All right girls. We're gonna try something a little different today. We're gonna write a 2,000-word essay telling on who you think you are," Mrs. Ziminsky said, passing out papers and pencils.

"Is this a test?" Rebecca said.

"And when I say 'essay', I mean essay. Writing the same word 2,000 times will not count. Is that clear, Ms. Rubin?" Mrs. Ziminsky continued.

Rebecca smirked. "Crystal," she said.

"Good. Maybe you'll learn a little something about yourself. Maybe you'll even decide whether or not you care to return," Mrs. Ziminsky said.

Kit gets up from her chair. "I can tell you that right now, ma'am. That's "no", no for me, because-"

"Sit down, Kittredge," Mrs. Ziminsky ordered. Kit sits back down on her chair.

"Now, I'll be in my office across the hall, Any monkey business is ill-advised. Any questions?" She asked. Rebecca raised her hand and Mrs. Ziminsky looks at her.

"Yes, I have a question. Does Kaya know that you raided her teepee?" she asked.

"I'll give you the answer to that question in detention next Saturday, Ms. Rubin," Mrs. Ziminsky replied. "Don't mess with the bull young lady, You'll get the horns," she leaves.

Mrs. Ziminsky made a face behind her back, which made Samantha almost giggle. Mrs. Ziminsky glanced at her for a quick second, but nothing more was said.

There was silence. Suddenly, a loud snapping noise could be heard from the back of the room. Molly, Samantha, Kit and Rebecca turned their heads to Felicity, who was biting her fingernails loudly.

Rebecca said to her. "You keep eating your hand and you're not gonna be hungry for lunch."

Felicity spits a nail part at her.

"I've seen you before, you know," Rebecca said to Felicity. Mrs. Ziminsky looks out from her office. Kit plays with her pencil. "Who do you think I am?" she said to herself, quietly. "Who are you? Who are you?" she sticks the pencil to her nose and sways it back and forth. Then mimics trumpeting. "I'm an elephant," she said.

Rebecca crumbles up her essay parchment and threw it at Samantha but it missed and it flew over her head. Both Molly and Samantha noticed it, but decided to ignore it.

Rebecca decided she'd better start taking matters into her own hands. She started making noises to get their attention, loudly humming, "La, la, la, la, la, la... la, la, la..."

Samantha looked annoyed. "I can't believe this is really happening to me," she said to herself. Rebecca stops humming abruptly.

"Oh, shit! What are supposed to do if we have to take a leak?" she asked.

"Please," Samantha said disgustedly.

"If you gotta go, you gotta go," Rebecca replied, lifts her skirt and leaning over.

"Oh my god!" Samantha said disgustedly.

"Hey! You can't urinate in here, girl!" Molly said annoyingly.

"Don't talk! Don't talk! It makes it crawl back up!" Rebecca said.

"You whip it out and you're dead even when the first drop hits the floor!" Molly threatened.

"You know, you're pretty sexy when you get angry," Rebecca remarked.

Molly clenched her fist and glared at Rebecca.

"Hey, homegirl!" Rebecca said to Kit.

"Why don't you go close that door," she commanded. "Then we'll get the prom queen... impregnated!" she said, reffering to Samantha.

"Hey!" Molly snapped, guarding Samantha.

"What?" Rebecca asked innocently.

"If I lose my temper, you're totalled, girl!" Molly said.

"Totally?" Rebecca said.

"Totally," Molly said.

Samantha glared at Rebecca. "Why don't you just shut up! Nobody here is interested!"

"Really," Molly said in agreement. She turned back around.

"Buttface," Molly said to Samantha about Rebecca.

"Well, hey, sweetie! What'd you do to get in here? Forget to clean your dress?" Rebecca asked, taunted Molly.

"Uh, excuse me girls, but I think we should just write our papers," Kit said nervously.

Molly spun around to face Rebecca again. "Listen, Rubin! Just because you live in here doesn't give you a right to be a pain in the neck, so knock it off!" she said angrily.

"It's a free country," Rebecca told her, smirking.

"She's just doing it to get a rise out of you! Just ignore her," Samantha said to Molly.

"Sweets," Rebecca said to Samantha. Samantha looked at her.

"You couldn't ignore me even if you tried!" she said to Samantha.

Samantha rolled her eyes and turned her back to Rebecca.

"So... so... Are you two alike?" Rebecca asked Molly and Samantha. "Steady dates? Lovers? Come on, sweetheart, level with me. Do you slip her the hot sweet injection?"

Samantha and Molly turn around angrily to face Rebecca.

"GO TO HELL!" Samantha shouted.

"ENOUGH!" Molly shouted.

"HEY! What's going on in there!" Mrs. Ziminsky shouted, looking up from a paper she was grading. There was quiet once again.

"Spoiled brats," she muttered to herself.

Back in the classroom, Molly and Rebecca were exchanging glances. "Scumbag," Molly muttered, turning away from Rebecca.

Rebecca stepped out of her seat and perched herself on top of the librarian's desk. "Why don't we close that door? We can't have any fun if Mrs. Ziminsky's checking on us every few seconds."

"The door's supposed to stay open," Kit pointed out to her.

"So?" Rebecca asked.

"So why don't you be quiet! There are four other people in here you know," Molly replied.

"Very good, Molly. You can count. See! I knew you had to be a... a tap dancer."

"Who are you to judge?" Molly questioned her. Felicity and Kit looked on with interest.

"Really," Samantha added, agreeing with Molly.

"You know, Rubin. You don't even count. If you disappeared forever, it wouldn't make a difference. You may as well not even exist at this school," Molly added.

Rebecca bit her lip and shot back at Molly, "Well, then. Guess I'll go back and try out for the tap dancing team."

Samantha and Molly look at each other and snickered.

"Maybe the prep club, too," Rebecca continued.

"They wouldn't take you," Molly said.

"Aw, I'm hurtin'," Rebecca said in a falsely sad tone.

Samantha turned to Rebecca. "I know why people like you knock everything," she said, matter-of-factly.

"Oh, this should be good. I want to hear what Little Miss Perfect has to say," Rebecca said.

"It's because you're afraid," Samantha concluded, smiling at her.

"Wow! You riches are so smart! That's exactly why I don't participate in any activities!" Rebecca told her with mock enthusiasm.

"You're a coward," she said.

Kit felt a little left out of the conversation, so he spoke up. "I'm in the typewriting club," she said, but no one had heard her.

"You're afraid they won't you accept you again, so you insult it left and right because you're bitter," Samantha said.

"Well, it wouldn't have anything to do with you activities people being boneheads, now would it?" Rebecca asked.

Samantha shrugged. "Well, you wouldn't know. You don't know any of us," she said.

"Well, I don't know any lepers either, but I'm not going to run out and join one of their fucking clubs," Rebecca said with a smug grin.

"Let's watch the mouth, huh?" Molly ordered, glaring at Rebecca.

"I'm in the Physics Club, too," Kit added.

"Excuse me," Rebecca said to Samantha. She looked up to talk to Kit. "What are you babbling about?" she asked her.

"Uh, well, what I was saying is that I'm in the typewriting club, the Latin Club and the Physics Club... Physics Club," she replied.

Rebecca looked back to Samantha. "Hey, Cherry, do YOU belong to the Physics Club?" she asked.

"That's an academic club," she said, nearly rolling her eyes.

"So?" Rebecca replied.

"So academic clubs aren't the same as other types of clubs," she finished.

Rebecca pointed at Kit. "Oh, but to dorks like her, they are," he said. He looked back to Kit. "What do you girls do in your club?" she asked.

Kit cleared her throat. "Well, in the Physics um, we uh, talk about Physics and different properties of Physics," Kit explained.

"So, it's sort of social – demented and sad, but social. Right?" Rebecca asked.

"Yeah. I guess you could consider it a social situation," Kit replied. "I mean, yeah, there are other students in my club. And, um, at the end of the year, we have a big banquet in the Great Hall."

"You load up, you party," Rebecca suggested to her.

"Well, no. We get dressed up, but we don't get... we don't get high," Kit stated.

"Only stoners like you get high," Samantha said to Rebecca. Rebecca stared at her.

"And I really didn't have any shoes, so my Doctor lets me wear my dad's old shoes. He was reluctant about it, though. And my friend, Ruthie Smithens? She lives in Cincinnati, Ohio and she got high once, you know, and she started eating all these weird foods. Then, you know, she was sort of just felt like she didn't belong anywhere. You know, kinda like, you know 'Twilight Zone' kinda," Kit rambled on.

Samantha gave a small laugh as she looked at Rebecca. "Sounds like you," she said to her.

Molly looked at the open door Mrs. Ziminsky had left open nervously. "Look, if you lot keep up your talking, Mrs. Ziminsky's going to come right in here. I got to go to the 'Hooray for the U. S. A.' show next Saturday. I'm not gonna miss it on account of you lamebrains, " she replied.

Rebecca looked at Molly with mock concern. "Oh! Wouldn't that be a bite, huh?" She made a fake moan. "Missing a day to tap dance!"

Molly gave Rebecca a stern look. "Well, you wouldn't know anything about it, dimwit! You don't even know how to tap dance!"

"Oh, I know!" Rebecca said to Molly with mock hurt and sadness. "And I feel all empty inside because of it. I have such a DEEP admiration for girls performing on the stage with other girls."

"You'd never miss it," Molly scoffed. "You don't have any goals."

"Oh, but I do," Rebecca said.

"Yeah?" Molly answered.

"I want to be just like you! I figure all I need is a lobotomy to the head and a pair of tights," Rebecca continued.

Kit looked at Molly incredulously. "You wear tights?" she asked.

Molly turned to her. "No, I don't wear tights. I wear the required uniform," she told her.

"Tights," Kit said matter-of-factly.

"Shut up," Molly snapped.

Felicity in the back smirked at her weak retort and continued scribbling away on her piece of paper. Just at that moment, Rebecca heard Mrs. Ziminsky step out of her office. Rebecca then leapt into a seat between Molly and Samantha. She folds her hands. Mrs. Ziminsky goes back into her office. Rebecca laughs gets up and walks right to the open door.

"You know, there's not supposed to be any monkey business," Kit replied.

"Young lady, have you finished your paper?" Rebecca asked her sternly.

Rebecca peered up and down the corridor cautiously and then began unscrewing one of the screws that held the door open.

"Come on, Rubin! Don't screw around," Molly warned.

"What are you doing?" Samantha asked her.

"Drop dead, I hope," Molly suggested to her.

Mrs. Ziminsky gets a drink from the fountain. She stands up and checks the way she looks in a mirror. She does a muscular pose and utters some manly gibberish... "Cobadonga!"

Back at the library, "Rubin. That's school property there. You know it doesn't belong to us. It's something not to be toyed with," Kit warned her. The door slammed shut and its echo could be heard through the corridor.

"That's very funny, Rubin. Fix it," Molly said bitterly as Rebecca made her way back to her original seat.

"You really should fix that," Kit agreed.

"Am I a genius?" Rebecca asked braggingly.

"No, you're a bonehead!" Molly replied.

"What a funny girl!" Rebecca said sarcastically.

"Fix the door, Rubin!"

"Everyone just... shh!" Rebecca ordered everyone.

As Mrs. Ziminsky walked back to her office she heard voices:

"Look, I've been here before. I know what I'm doing," Rebecca said.

"No! Go over there and fix the door!" Molly ordered.

"Shut up!" Rebecca yelled.

"Dagnabbit!" Mrs. Ziminsky yelled. Mrs. Ziminsky burst in. "WHY IS THAT DOOR CLOSED?" She yelled.

Nobody answered.

"WHY IS THAT DOOR CLOSED?!" she asked again.

"How are we supposed to know? We're not supposed to move, right?" Rebecca asked.

"Why?!" Mrs. Ziminsky bellowed.

"We're just sitting here, like we're supposed to," Samantha spoke up.

"Who closed that door?" Mrs. Ziminsky said to Rebecca.

"I think a screw fell out of it," Rebecca added.

"It just closed, ma'am," Molly lied, nearly kicking herself for defending Rebecca Rubin.

"Who?!" Mrs. Ziminsky said to Felicity.

Felicity lets out a squeak and slams her face onto the table.

"She doesn't talk, ma'am," Rebecca replied.

"Give me the screw," Mrs. Ziminsky said to Rebecca.

"I don't have it," Rebecca replied.

"Do you want me to yank you out of that seat and shake it out of you?" Mrs. Ziminsky threatened.

Rebecca continued to look calm, cool and collected. "I don't have it. Screws fall out all the time. The world's an imperfect place."

"Give it to me, Rubin," Mrs. Ziminsky demanded.

"Excuse me, ma'am," Samantha piped up. "But why would anyone want to steal a screw?"

"Watch it, Parkington!" Mrs. Ziminsky warned Samantha.

Rebecca glared at Mrs. Ziminsky as she picked up a chair and tried to hold the door open with it.

"The door's way too heavy, ma'am," Rebecca told her.

Mrs. Ziminsky ignored her and puts the chair in front of the door. The door slammed shut and knocked the chair out of the way.

"Dagnabbit!" Mrs. Ziminsky said.

The girls tried their best not to laugh as they heard Mrs. Ziminsky from the other side of the door, yelling and cursing.

Mrs. Ziminsky opened the door and stepped back inside. "Molly McIntire, get over here!" She ordered. Molly reluctantly got up and walked over to her.

"How come Molly gets to get up?" Rebecca asked indigently. "If she gets up, we'll all get up. It'll be anarchy!"

Molly and Mrs. Ziminsky both picked up a small but heavy bookshelf in front of the door. The bookshelf was able to keep the door opened, but it blocked the doorway entirely. As Molly tried to walk back inside, she tripped over all the books inside the shelf.

"Okay, now, watch the magazines," Mrs. Ziminsky said to Molly.

"That's very clever, ma'am," Rebecca replied. "But what if there's a fire? I think violating fire codes and endangering the lives of children would be unwise at this juncture of your career, ma'am."

Mrs. Ziminsky glared at Rebecca. She looked back to Molly and snapped. "All right, what are you doing? Get- Get this out for goodness Sake! What's wrong with you? Come on!"

Molly pushed the bookshelf back to its original location.

"You know, the school comes with fire escapes equipped at either end of the library," Kit said quietly.

"Show Mrs. Ziminsky some respect," Rebecca said sarcastically.

Mrs. Ziminsky and Molly both returned back to the main part of the library. "Let's go! Get back to your seat," Mrs. Ziminsky barked at Molly. Molly sat back down. "I expected more from a varsity lettergirl," Mrs. Ziminsky said to Molly.

Mrs. Ziminsky turned to face Rebecca. "You're not fooling anybody, Rubin," Mrs. Ziminsky said. "The next screw that falls out is going to be you."

As Mrs. Ziminsky turned to leave, Rebecca mumbled, "Eat my dress."

Mrs. Ziminsky turns back around. "Excuse me?" she questioned, returning back to Rebecca.

"EAT. MY. DRESS." Rebecca said, loudly.

"You just bought yourself another Saturday, Rubin," Mrs. Ziminsky said.

"Oh, crap," Rebecca retorted, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"You just got one more right there," Mrs. Ziminsky said.

Rebecca felt herself getting angry. "Well, I'm free the Saturday after that, beyond that, I'm going to have to check my calendar."

"Good, because it's going to be filled! We'll keep going! You want another? Say the word. Just say the word. Instead of going to Juvenile Hall, you'll come here. Are you through?"

Rebecca glared at Mrs. Ziminsky. "No," she yelled.

"I'm doing society a favor!" Mrs. Ziminsky yelled back.

"So?" Rebecca said.

"That's another one, right now. I've got you for the rest of your natural born life if you don't watch your step! You want another one?" Mrs. Ziminsky yelled.

Rebecca folded her arms and continued glaring at Mrs. Ziminsky. "Yes!" she replied, egging her on.

"You got it! You got another one right there! That's another one, Rubin!" Mrs. Ziminsky continued.

Samantha stared at Rebecca in shock, her face full of worry and concern. "Cut it out!" she exclaimed to Rebecca. Rebecca gave her a brief glance. Samantha mouths 'stop' to Rebecca.

"You through?" Mrs. Ziminsky asked.

"No way, Jose!" Rebecca challenged.

"Good. You got one more right there," Mrs. Ziminsky ordered.

"You really think I give a shit?" Rebecca asked.

"Another!" Mrs. Ziminsky offered. Rebecca continued to glare daggers at her. "You through, Rubin?"

"How many is that?" Rebecca asked.

"That's 7 including the one when you asked Mrs. Ziminsky here whether if she raided Kaya's teepee," Kit informed her.

"Now it's 8," she said to Rebecca. "You stay out of this," she warned Kit.

"Excuse me, ma'am, it's 7," Kit corrected Mrs. Ziminsky.

"Hush, Kittredge!" Mrs. Ziminsky snapped at Kit then turns back to Rebecca. "You're mine, Rubin. For the next 2 months."

"What can I say? I'm thrilled!" Rebecca said.

"Oh, I'm sure that's exactly what you want these people to believe," Mrs. Ziminsky replied. "You know something, Rubin? You ought to spend a little more time trying to do something with yourself and little less trying to impress people. You might be better off."

Mrs. Ziminsky then addressed the rest of the girls. "All right, that's it! I'm going to be right outside these doors. The next time I have to come in here, I'm cracking skulls!" Rebecca mouths (I'm cracking skulls!)

As Mrs. Ziminsky left the room and closed the door, Rebecca screamed "FUCK YOU!" at her.

Mrs. Ziminsky sighs. _I don't know what I'm going to do with these girls_, she thought.


	2. Parents

The clock read 7:55, Rebecca takes out a Tootsie Roll candy bar out of her pocket; opens it and eats it; Kit was playing with her overalls; Molly was cleaning her glasses; Samantha was daydreaming; Felicity found a string on her gown and starts wrapping it around one of her fingers, watching it turn purple.

As more time passed, Rebecca puts the candy bar wrapper in her shirt then plays air guitar; Samantha continued daydreaming and Felicity was drawing a picture of Jiggy Nye's horse named Penny. She shook her hair violently as dandruff fell onto the picture, making it look like snow.

A few minutes later, the five fell asleep.

Mrs. Ziminsky walked in and found the five girls sleeping with their heads on the tables.

"Wake up!" Mrs. Ziminsky barked.

The girls slowly raised their heads up slightly. "Who wants to get a drink of water?" Mrs. Ziminsky asked.

They all raised their hands.

At 10:12, Rebecca began tearing pages out of a library book and started throwing the pages around.

"That's really intelligent, you know," Molly remarked as she began stretching her legs on a nearby pole.

"You're right," Rebecca said as she continued to rip pages out of the book. "It's wrong to destroy literature." She took a quick glance at the author's name on the cover.

"And Mall-yay is such fun to read!" she replied, mispronouncing the name of the Muggle Frenchman's name.

"Mol-yare," Samantha corrected her, pronouncing his name correctly. She smiled at her.

"I love his work," Kit added. Rebecca tossed the remnants of the book at her and got up from her seat.

"Big deal," Rebecca replied, groaning. "Nothing to do when you're in a locked vacancy."

"Speak for yourself," Molly replied.

"Do you think I'd speak for you? I don't even know your language," Rebecca sneered.

Molly ignored her and turned to Samantha. "Hey, you're grounded tonight?" she asked her.

"I don't know. Aunt Grandmary said I was, but Uncle Gard just said to blow her off," Samantha replied.

"Addy is throwing a big party at her house. Her parents are from Philadelphia. Should be pretty wild."

"Yeah?" Samantha asked with interest.

"Yeah. Are you going?" Molly asked her.

"I doubt it," Samantha said.

"How come?" Molly wanted to know.

"Well, because if I do what my aunt tells me not to do, it's because my uncle says it's okay. There's like this whole big monster deal. It's endless and it's a total drag. It's like any minute, they'll get a divorce," Samantha explained to Molly.

"Who do you like better?" Rebecca asked, barging in.

Samantha looked up. "What?" she asked.

"You like your uncle better than your aunt?" Rebecca said.

"They're both strict," Samantha answered.

"No, I mean if you had to choose between them, I mean," Rebecca continued.

Samantha shrugged. "I don't know. I'd probably go live with my older sister. I mean, I don't think either one gives a shit about me. It's like they use me to get back at each other."

"HAW!" A voice exclaimed from the back of the room.

Everyone turned around to see where the voice had come from. The voice belonged to Felicity, who just sat in her seat, blowing some of her hair out of her eyes and grinning.

"Shut up!" Samantha snapped at her.

"You're just feeling sorry for yourself," Molly said.

"Yeah, well if I didn't, nobody else would," Samantha said.

"Aw, you're breaking my heart," Molly said mockingly.

"Honeybunch?" Rebecca asked Molly.

"What?" Molly asked irritably.

"You get along with your parents?" Rebecca asked.

"Well, if I say yes, I'm an idiot, right?" Molly told her.

Rebecca hopped off the desk and stood in front of Molly. "Well, you're an idiot anyway, but if you say you get along with your family, you're a liar, too."

Rebecca walked away from Molly. Molly glared at her. She followed her and gave her a light shove.

"You know something? If Mrs. Ziminsky wasn't here, I'd waste you," Molly told her.

Rebecca smirked. "Oh, really? Do you really think I'm afraid of you?"

Kit stepped in between the two girls. "Girls, come on," she said, trying to split them apart. Molly jerked away from Kit.

"I don't like my uncle, either," Kit said. "I don't get along with him because his idea of parental compassion is just, you know, wacko."

Rebecca looked at Kit. "Dork," she said. "You are a parent's wet dream, okay?"

"Well, that's the problem," Kit replied as Rebecca walked away from her.

Rebecca turned back around. "Look, I can see you getting all bunged up for them making you wear these kinda clothes. But face it, you're a Neo-Maxi-Zoom-Dweebie! What would you be doing if you weren't out making yourself a better citizen?"

"Why do you have to insult everybody?" Molly asked.

Rebecca groaned. "I'm being honest, honeybunch! I'd expect you to know the difference!"

"Yeah, well, she's got a name."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Molly said. She turned to Kit. "What's your name?" she asked Kit.

"Margaret, my friends call me 'Kit'," she answered.

"See?" Molly said to Rebecca.

"My condolences," Rebecca said as she walked away.

"What's your name?" Samantha asked.

"What's yours?" Rebecca snapped.

"Samantha," Samantha answered.

"Sa-man-tha?" Rebecca explained.

"Samantha. It's a family name," Samantha explained.

"No," Rebecca disagreed. "Samantha's a fat girl's name."

"Thank you, but I'm not fat!" Samantha replied. And she wasn't, Samantha was very petite.

"Well not at present but I could see you really pushing maximum density!" Rebecca replied. You see, I'm not sure if you know this...but there are two kinds of fat people. There's fat people that were born to be fat, and then there's fat people that were once thin but they became fat...so when you look at them you can sorta see that thin person inside! You see, you're gonna get married, you're gonna squeeze out a few puppies and then, uh... " Rebecca began to mimic loud noises. Samantha gives her the fist.

"Oh, obscene gesture from such a pristine girl," Rebecca taunted.

"I'm not that pristine," Samantha scoffed, scowling at Rebecca.

Rebecca leaned closer to Samantha and gazed at her intently, face to face.

"Are you a virgin?" she asked. "I'll bet a million dollars that you are! Let's end the suspense. Is it going to be a white wedding?"

"Why don't you just shut up?" Samantha asked.

"Have you ever kissed a boy on the mouth? Have you ever been felt up? Over the bra, under the blouse, shoes off...hoping to God your grandparents don't walk in?" Rebecca continued.

Samantha stared at Rebecca, very upset. "You want me to puke?"

Rebecca continued her assault, "Over the panties, no bra, blouse unbuttoned, Annabelle's in the christmas ball past eleven on a school night?" Rebecca continued, undressing Samantha with her eyes.

Molly couldn't stand the embarrassment Rebecca was giving to Samantha anymore. Samantha looked ready to cry.

Molly stood up. "Leave her alone," she said.

Rebecca looked at Molly; Samantha as well.

"I said, leave her alone," Molly repeated as she walked towards Rebecca. She stopped by Kit.

"You gonna make me?" Rebecca asked, challenging Molly.

"Yeah," Molly said. Rebecca suddenly walked towards Molly and stood in front of her.

"You and how many of your friends?" Rebecca asked her.

"Just me, just you and me. Two hits," Molly confirmed. "Me hitting you, you hitting the floor. Anytime you're ready."

Rebecca goes to hit her but Molly dodges and wrestles Rebecca down on the floor.

"I don't wanna get into this with you, girl," Rebecca said.

"How come?" Molly asked, releasing her hold on Rebecca.

Rebecca starts to get up. "Because I'd kill you. It's real simple I'd kill you and your fucking parents would sue me and it would be a big mess and I don't care enough about you to bother."

"Chicken shit," Molly muttered as walked away and returned to her seat next to Samantha.

Rebecca pulled out an X-Acto Gripster knife, revealing its sharp blade. She sticks it into a chair. As she did, Felicity reached out and grabbed the blade when Rebecca or anyone had been looking.

"Let's end this right now. You don't talk to her, you don't look at her and you don't even think about her! You understand me?" Molly commanded.

"I'm trying to help her," Rebecca simply answered.

15 minutes later, as everyone had finally been seated, Charlotte walked in. Rebecca watched her.

"Kit, how you doing?" she said.

"Your mom works here?" Rebecca said to Kit then is embarrassed.

"Charlotte?" Rebecca asked. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," Charlotte asked.

"How does one become a janitor?" Rebecca said.

"You want to be a janitor?" Charlotte said.

"No. I just want to know how one becomes a janitor because Molly here is very interested in pursuing a career in the custodial arts," Rebecca said.

Charlotte looked at Rebecca in disbelief. "Oh, really? You girls think I'm just some untouchable peasant? Peon? Huh? Maybe so, but following a broom around after jugheads like you for the past two years I've learned a couple of things. I look through your letters, I look through your lockers, I listen to your conversations, you don't know that but I do. I am the eyes and ears of this institution my friends."

She shook her head as she looked at her watch. "Oh, and by the way, that clock is twenty minutes fast."

As everyone else groaned, Rebecca smiled.

"Shit," Molly said.

At 11:30, Mrs. Ziminsky leaves her office. While she was gone, Rebecca began whistling a marching tune, which everyone else joined into as well. When Mrs. Ziminsky entered the room, Rebecca began whistling the tune of Beethoven's Fifth.

"All right, girls," Mrs. Ziminsky announced. "That's 30 minutes for lunch."

"Here?" Molly asked.

"Here," Mrs. Ziminsky confirmed.

"Well, I think the Cafeteria would be a more suitable place for us to eat lunch in, ma'am," Molly said.

"Well, I don't care what you think, Molly," Mrs. Ziminsky snapped.

"Um, miss? Excuse me, Mrs. Ziminsky, will milk be made available to us?" Rebecca asked.

"We're extremely thirsty, ma'am," Molly added.

"I have a very low tolerance for dehydration," Samantha said.

"I've seen her dehydrate, ma'am," Molly lied. "It's pretty gross."

Rebecca got up off her chair. "Calm down. I'll go get it," she said.

"Ah, ah, ah! Stop right there, Rubin!" Mrs. Ziminsky demanded.

Rebecca sat back down.

"You think I was born yesterday? Am I going to allow you roaming these halls?" she continued.

Mrs. Ziminsky looked around the room for a perfect candidate to fetch the drinks.

"You," she said, pointing to Molly.

Molly pointed to Samantha, wanting her to come with her. Samantha straightened her shoulders.

"And you," Mrs. Ziminsky finished, pointing to Felicity. Felicity wouldn't move, sitting in her same position towards the side.

"Hey! What's her name? Wake her. Wake her up. Come on, come on! On your feet, missy! Let's go! This isn't a rest home."

Felicity got up from her seat and picked up her picnic basket. She followed Molly.

"There's a soft drink machine in the teacher's lounge. Let's go!" Mrs. Ziminsky informed them as they left.

As the two of them walked down the hall, Molly began talking to her. Felicity hadn't said a word all day and she wanted to get something out of her.

"So, what's your poison?" she asked her idly.

Felicity didn't answer.

"What do you drink?" Molly asked again.

Felicity still didn't answer, Molly gave up. "Okay. Forget I asked," she said.

"Lemonade," Felicity answered.

"Lemonade? When do you drink lemonade?" Molly asked.

Felicity walked ahead of Molly. "Whenever," she said, shrugging.

"A lot?" Molly asked.

Felicity smiled. "Tons," she answered.

"Is that why you're today? Why are you here?" Molly asked.

"Why are you here?" Felicity snapped.

Molly leaned against the wall and looked at Felicity. "Well, I'm here because Miss LaVonda and my father doesn't me to blow my ride. Dad thinks I'm a winner. So is my mom. I'm not a winner because I wanna be one, I'm a winner because I got strength and speed. Kinda like a race horse. That's about how involved I am in what's happening to me," she answered.

"Yeah?" Felicity asked, not convinced. "That's really interesting. Now why don't you tell me why you're really in here?"

Molly shook her head. "Forget it!" she snapped.


	3. Lunchtime!

Back in the library, as Samantha, Rebecca and Kit waited for Molly and Felicity to return, Rebecca was flipping through a book, Samantha was painting her nails and Kit was sharpening her pencil.

"Samantha, you want to see a picture of a girl with elephantitus of the nuts? It's very tasty," Rebecca asked.

Samantha looked disgusted. "No, thank you," she said.

"How do you think she rides a bike?" Rebecca asked her.

Samantha rolled her eyes in utter repulsion and turned away from Rebecca.

"Would you ever consider dating a girl like this?" she prodded.

Samantha groaned in frustration. "Can't you just leave me alone?" she asked.

"I mean," Rebecca continued. "If she had a great personality and was a good dancer and had a cool car, although you'd probably have to ride in the backseat own because her nuts would ride a shotgun."

"You know what I wish I were doing?" Samantha muttered to no one in particular.

"Watch what you say, Kit here is a cherry!" Rebecca teased.

"A cherry?" Kit said.

"I wish I was on a plane heading to France," Samantha finished.

"I'm not a cherry," Kit said defensively.

"When have you ever been laid?" Rebecca asked her.

"I've been laid lots of times," Kit lied.

"Name one," Rebecca said to Kit.

"She lives in Illinois, met her at Chicago. You wouldn't know her," Kit lied again.

"Ever laid anyone around here?" Rebecca asked.

Kit shushed Rebecca and pointed to Samantha, who had her back turned.

Rebecca's mouth flew open. "You mean you and Samantha did it?" she asked in surprise.

At the mention of her name, Samantha spun around. "What are you two talking about?" she asked.

"Nothing, nothing," Kit lied. "Let's just drop it and talk more about it later," she hissed to Rebecca.

"No! Drop what? I want to know what you said," Samantha demanded.

"Well, Kit's trying to tell me is that in addition to the number of girls in the Chicago area, that presently you and she are riding the hobbyhorse," Rebecca told her.

"Little pig!" Samantha yelled at Kit.

"No, no! I'm not!" Kit defended herself, feeling cornered. "Rebecca said I was a cherry and I said I wasn't. That's it! That's all I said!"

"Well, then. What were you motioning to Samantha for?" Rebecca asked.

"I don't appreciate this very much, Kit," Samantha said disappointingly.

"Oh, so you weren't motioning to Samantha?" Rebecca asked.

"You know she's lying, right?" Kit replied.

"Were you or were you not motioning to Samantha?" Rebecca asked again, interrogating Kit.

"Yeah, but it was only... was only because I didn't want her to know I was a virgin," Kit said, looking embarrassed, ashamed and defeated.

Rebecca only stared at her.

"Excuse me for being a virgin, I'm sorry," Kit replied.

Samantha laughed a little. "Why didn't you want anyone to know you were a virgin?" she asked.

"Because it's personal business. It's my personal, private business," Kit answered.

"Well, Kit," Rebecca replied. "It looks like you're not doing any business."

"I think it's okay for a guy to be a virgin," Samantha told Kit reassuringly.

Rebecca looked at her in surprise.

"You do?" Kit asked. Samantha simply smiled and nodded.

At lunch, everyone sat back at their tables and pulled out their lunches, except for Rebecca, who had forgotten hers.

"What's in there?" Rebecca asked.

"Guess. Where's your lunch?" Samantha asked Rebecca.

"You're wearing it," Rebecca answered.

"You're nauseating," Samantha said sickeningly.

Rebecca picked up a can of 7-Up and tossed it to Felicity, who caught it without even looking up.

Samantha took out a sushi platter and set it on the table.

"What's that?" Rebecca asked curiously.

"Sushi," Samantha answered.

"Sushi?" Rebecca said.

"Yeah. Rice, raw fish and seaweed," Samantha told her.

"You won't accept a girl's lips in your mouth and you gonna eat that?" Rebecca continued.

"Can I eat?" Samantha begged impatiently.

"I don't know. Give it a try," Rebecca replied.

Samantha rolled her eyes at her and began to eat.

Molly's lunch consisted of a large meal. She pulled out a bag of turnips that Mrs. Gilford gave her, an apple, a banana, a bag of cookies, a bottle of water and a juice box. While Molly opened one of her sandwiches, Felicity opened the can of 7-Up that Rebecca had tossed to her. The drink fizzed all over. Felicity slurped the drink loudly off the top of the can, the table and her fingers.

After everyone's eyes left Felicity, Rebecca turned to look at Molly and her lunch.

"What's your problem?" Molly asked. Rebecca shrugged.

Felicity opened her lunch bag and took out a sandwich. She took the meat out and threw it into the air with disdain. The meat landed on a sculpture with a splat and then on the floor. Felicity then took some powdered candy called Pixie Stix her father had bought for her. She sprinkled all the candy on the slices of bread. She then grabbed a box of cereal called Froot Loops and dumped handfuls of it on the slices. She smooshed it together and put the bread together. When the sandwich was done, she took a huge bite of it. The sandwich made a loud crunch.

After everyone's heads turned from Felicity a second time, Rebecca walked over to Kit, grabbing her lunch bag.

"What're we having?" Rebecca asked her.

"It's your standard regular lunch, I guess," Kit answered.

Rebecca reached into the bag. She pulled out a thermos. "Milk?" she asked.

"No. Soup," Kit answered.

Rebecca reached back into the bag and pulled out a juice box container. Kit reached toward the bag, but Rebecca slapped her hand away. "That's apple juice," Kit told her.

"I can read!" Rebecca snapped. She continued taking items out of Kit's lunch bag "PB &amp; J with the crusts cut off," she replied. "Well, Kit. This is a very nutritious lunch. All the food groups are represented. Did your mom marry Mr. Tripp?"

"Uh, no. Mr. Kittredge," Molly said.

"Ahh," Rebecca replied unstandingly. Samantha and Molly exchanged smiles.

Rebecca stood up. "Here's my impression of life at Little Kit's house," she announced.

She stood in front of the others and began her impressions:

In a loud, friendly voice: **Sweetheart?**

In a childlike voice: Yeah, Dad?

How's your day, girl?

Great, Dad! How's yours?

Super! Say, girl, how'd you like to go fishing this weekend?

Great, Dad! But I have homework to do!

That's alright, sweetheart! You can do it on the boat!

Gee!

Dear, isn't our sweetheart swell?

In a motherly, female voice: Yes, dear. Isn't life swell?

Rebecca began miming the mother kissing the father and the father kissing the mother. She ended it with the father punching the mother in the face, making a huge explosion.

"All right," Molly said, looking at the miserable expressions on Kit's face. "What about your family?"

"Oh, mine? That's real easy," Rebecca replied as she got back up again.

She then put on a louder, threatening voice to sound like her father: **Stupid, worthless, no-good, goddamn, freeloading son-of-a-bitch. Contemptible, big mouth, know-it-all, asshole, jerk!**

Rebecca mimes her Mother's voice: **You forgot ugly, lazy and disrespectful.**

Rebecca mimes her father slapping her mother: **SHUT UP, BITCH! Go fix me a turkey pot pie!**

Rebecca mimes her quiet voice: _What about you, Dad?_

Rebecca mimes her father's voice: **Fuck you.**

Rebecca raised her voice: _No, Dad! What about you_?

Rebecca mimes her father's voice: **Fuck you!**

Rebecca mimes her voice, yelling: _**NO, DAD, WHAT ABOUT YOU?**_

Rebecca mimes her father's voice, yelling: **FUCK YOU!**

Rebecca reached out and pretended to be her father hitting her.

"Is that for real?" Kit asked.

"You want come over sometime?" Molly asked her.

"That's bullshit," Molly scoffed. "It's all part of your image. I don't believe a word of it."

Rebecca looked stung. "You don't believe me?" she asked.

"No," Molly answered.

"No?" Rebecca asked again.

"Did I stutter?" Molly said.

Rebecca walked over to her and rolled up her right sleeve to reveal a burn on her arm.

"Do you believe this? Hmm? It's about the size of a cigar. Do I _stutter_? This is what you get in my house when you spill milk on the floor!"

Molly winced at the burn on Rebecca's arm and Samantha gasped.

Rebecca walked away from Molly.

"See," she continued. "I don't think I need to sit here with you stinking dingbats anymore!" she said angrily. She backed away from the others and angrily pushes the books on the floor. She climbed up onto the table and sat down on the second floor balcony.

Felicity looked from Rebecca to Molly and back, looking both angry and disappointed.

As Rebecca sat alone, Samantha glared at Molly. "You shouldn't have said that!" she told her.

"How would I know? I mean, she lies about everything anyway," Molly said, defending herself.

Mrs. Ziminsky was having her own lunch in her office. She puts an orange in her mouth and then attempts to pour coffee out of her thermos. The top comes off and the coffee goes all over her desk. "Oh, shit!" she said.

Mrs. Ziminsky walks into the hallway, talking to herself. "Coffee. It looks like they scrape it off the bottom of the Mississippi river. Everything's polluted, everything's polluted, the coffee, kids are polluted." Rebecca comes out of the library doors followed by Samantha, Molly, Kit and Felicity.

"How do you know where Mrs. Ziminsky went?" Samantha asked Rebecca.

"I don't," she answered.

"Well, then, how do you know when she'll be back?" Samantha asked her again.

"I don't. Being bad feels pretty good, huh?"

"What's the point of going to Rebecca's locker?" Kit asked Molly.

Molly shrugged. "Beats me," she answered.

"This is so stupid," Kit continued. "Why do you think- why are we risking getting caught?"

"I don't know," Molly answered.

"So, then what are we doing?" Kit asked Molly again.

"You ask me one more question and I'm beating the shit out of you," Molly told her, looking annoyed.

"Sorry," Kit replied, blushing.

Rebecca opens her locker. Rebecca's locker read: 'OPEN MY LOCKER AND YOU DIE!' with a black permanent marker. "What a slob," Samantha commented.

"My maid's on vacation," she told her sarcastically as she pulled open a large bag. She opened and pulled out another smaller bag. Inside the smaller bag was an even smaller one. Inside that, she pulled out a small cloth. Wrapped inside was a bag of Tootsie Roll snack bars.

"Drugs?" Kit asked, her eyes nearly popping out of her sockets.

"Screw that, Rubin! Put it back!" Molly replied. Rebecca ignored her and stuffed it in her pocket and walked off. Samantha followed her.

"The girl had candy bars. Those were candy bars," Kit said to Molly, still in disbelief.

"Shut up," Molly snapped, walking off.

"Do you approve of this?" Kit asked Felicity, who was still standing in the room, staring at Kit oddly.

She didn't wait for an answer and walked away.

After she left, Felicity steals the lock off of Rebecca's locker.

"We'll cross through the art room and then we'll double back," Rebecca replied.

"You'd better be right, If Mrs. Ziminsky catches us, it's your fault," Molly retorted.

"What'd she say? Where are we going?" Kit told Samantha.

The five continued walking. Just at that moment, they all spotted Mrs. Ziminsky with her back facing them. They all turned around frantically running quietly the other way. While they ran, they stopped and spotted Mrs. Ziminsky drinking water from the water fountain, they go back the way they came.

After running a bit, Rebecca stopped to catch her breath.

"Wait, wait! Hold it! We have to go through the cafeteria," Rebecca said.

"No, the Activities Hall," Molly argued.

"Hey, you don't know what you're talking about!" Rebecca replied.

"No, _you_ don't know what you're talking about!" Molly shot back.

Felicity squeaks nervously.

"Now, we're through listening to you," Molly replied. "We're going this way. Go where you want to go, Come on!"

The four of them followed Molly down the end of a corridor that was blocked by an iron gate.

"Shit!" Molly exclaimed, feeling stupid.

"Great idea, jag-off," Rebecca snapped at Molly.

"Fuck you," Molly snapped back.

"Fuck you!" Samantha said to Molly. "Why didn't you listen to Rebecca?"

"We're dead," Kit said hopelessly.

Rebecca shook her head. "No," she said. "Just me."

"What do you mean?" Kit asked her.

The other four looked at her confusingly.

"Get back to the library. Keep your unit on this," Rebecca said while stuffing the bag of Tootsie Roll in Kit's front overalls pocket.

Rebecca runs away singing loudly. "I WANNA BE AN AIRBORNE RANGER...!"

Mrs. Ziminsky was going back to her office when she hears Rebecca's loud singing.

"That son-of-a-bitch!" Mrs. Ziminsky said angrily. Mrs. Ziminsky starts running, trying to find her.

A few minutes later, she was out of breath when she heard the sound of a basketball dribbling.

Mrs. Ziminsky was peeking through the window.

"THREE! TWO! ONE!" Rebecca screamed as she dunks the ball while Mrs. Ziminsky enters the gymnasium.

"RUBIN! RUBIN! What are you doing here? What is this?!" Mrs. Ziminsky yelled at her.

"Hi," Rebecca greeted her as she continues dribbling.

"Out! That's it, Rubin! Out! It's over!" Mrs. Ziminsky continued, her face turning red.

"Don't you want hear my excuse?" Rebecca asked her.

"OUT!" Mrs. Ziminsky yelled, losing patience.

"I'm thinking of trying out for a scholarship," Rebecca continued as she stops dribbling.

"Give me that ball, Rubin," Mrs. Ziminsky demanded.

Rebecca fake throws it twice. She rolled it over to her and starts to walk away. Mrs. Ziminsky furiously kicks it back. Rebecca picked up her purse and Mrs. Ziminsky escorted her back to the library.

When Mrs. Ziminsky and Rebecca arrived back, the others were still in their seats, looking innocent. Mrs. Ziminsky pushes Rebecca lightly as she made her way back to her seat. "Get your stuff. Let's go!" she barked to her.

"Mrs. Wise Lady has found her way to go to the gymnasium. I'm sorry to inform you, you will be without her services for the rest of the day," she told the other girls.

"B-O-O-H-O-O," Rebecca replied sarcastically, pouting her lip.

"Everything's a big joke, huh, Rubin? The false alarm you pulled Friday. False alarms are really funny, aren't they? What if your home... what if your family..." she said, pausing. "What if your *dope* was on fire?" Mrs. Ziminsky told her.

"Impossible, ma'am," Rebecca replied. "It's in Kittredge's overalls."

Molly chuckled while Kit looked somewhat frantic.

Mrs. Ziminsky turned to Molly. "You think she's funny? You think this is cute? You think she's bitchin'? Is that it? Let me tell you something; look at her. She's a bum," Mrs. Ziminsky announced. "You want to see something funny? You go visit Rebecca Rubin in five years. You'll see how doggone funny she is."

Rebecca gave Mrs. Ziminsky an angry glare, trying her best not to cry. Mrs. Ziminsky took notice of it and walked towards her, crouching down to meet her glance.

"What's the matter, Rebecca? Are you going to cry?" she taunted sneeringly.

Rebecca didn't answer.

Mrs. Ziminsky gripped Rebecca's wrist. "Let's go!" she ordered.

"Hey! Keep your fucking hands off me! I expected better manners from you, you know!" Rebecca yelled at Mrs. Ziminsky.

"For better hallway vision," she told Kit as gave her sunglasses.

As the two of them left, Rebecca began pushing items off the librarian's desk as a protest that she wasn't about to leave quietly.

Mrs. Ziminsky shoved her a large supply closet. After she closed the door, she turned to look at Rebecca menacingly. "That's the last straw, Rubin! That's the last time you made me feel bad in front of those kids. Do you hear me? I make $31,000 a year and I have a home and I'm not about to throw it away on some punk like you! But someday, girl, someday. When you're out of here you've forgotten all about this place and they've forgotten all about you, and you're wrapped up in your own pathetic life, I'll be there. That's right and I'm going to kick the living shit out of you! I'm gonna knock your dick in the dirt!" she threatened.

"You threatening me?" Rebecca asked.

"What are you going to do about it? You think anybody's going to believe you? Do you think anyone is going to take your word over mine? I'm a woman of respect around here. They love me around here. I'm a nice lady, you're a lying sack of shit! And everybody knows it," Mrs. Ziminsky continued.

She walked towards Rebecca much closely. She crouched in front of her and closed her eyes. "You're a tough girl, hey come on, get on your feet! Show me how tough you are. I want to know right now how tough you are! Come on! I'll give you the first shot. Come on. Just take one shot, please, I'm begging you! Take a shot, come on, Just take one shot. That's all I need. Just one swing."

Rebecca stared at Mrs. Ziminsky, looking cautious and frightful. Mrs. Ziminsky made a fake punch at Rebecca and she flinched.

Mrs. Ziminsky smirked. "Just as I suspected," she replied. "You're a gutless worm."

She left the closet and locked Rebecca inside. After she left, she turned around and saw a steel ladder behind her. The ladder had 6 steps. She got up and unfolds the ladder then climbs up to the highest step of the ladder and opens a ceiling door and climbed up then closed it.

As Rebecca crawled her way through the ceiling, she starts to tell a joke. "Josefina walks into her sister Clara's room with a smoothie under one arm and 4 bizcochitos under the other. She lays smoothie on the table. Clara says 'I suppose you won't be needing a drink?' Josefina then says..." The ceiling starts to crumble and she falls through.

"Oh, SHIT!" Rebecca shouted as she fell to the floor.

Samantha, Molly, Kit and Felicity turned their heads towards where the noise had come from. Rebecca appeared, walking down the stairs a second later. "I forgot my pencil," she said, shrugging. She ignored the other students' looks of shock.

A second later, Mrs. Ziminsky's voice could be heard. Rebecca hid underneath Molly and Samantha's table and the others sat back down in their seats.

Mrs. Ziminsky stormed into the room. "What in Sam Hill's going on in here?! What was that ruckus?!" she screamed.

"What ruckus?" Molly asked innocently.

"I was just in my office and I heard a ruckus!" Mrs. Ziminsky insisted.

"Could you describe the ruckus, ma'am?" Kit asked her.

"Watch your mouth, young lady, watch it!" Mrs. Ziminsky warned her.

Underneath the table Rebecca accidentally hit her head. Samantha slapped both hands on the desk in a rhythm as if she had made the noise. Everyone joined in.

"What's this?" Mrs. Ziminsky added.

"BLLLLLLR!" Molly made a noise as if they were just randomly causing the ruckus.

"What is that? What- What is- What is that- What is that noise?" Mrs. Ziminsky asked, puzzled.

Under the table, Rebecca looks between Samantha's legs and can see her panties. She puts her head between Samantha's legs.

"What noise?" Molly said.

"Really, ma'am, there wasn't any noise," Samantha replied. She squeezes Rebecca's head between her knees.

The four students suddenly went into fake coughing fits.

"Was that the noise? Was that the noise you were talking about?" Samantha asked.

"No, that wasn't. That was not the noise I was talking about. Now, I may not have caught you in the act this time, but you can bet I will," Mrs. Ziminsky snapped.

Felicity laughed at Mrs. Ziminsky and Mrs. Ziminsky turned to her. "You make book on that, missy!" she said to her.

"And you! I will NOT be made a fool of!" she snapped to Samantha, walking off.

Samantha rolled her eyes as Rebecca crawled out from underneath the table. The girls laughed so hard except for Samantha as she slapped Rebecca's back.

"It was an accident," Rebecca said to Samantha.

"You're a jackass," she seethed to her.

Rebecca got up from the floor.

"Sue me," she said.

She walked towards Kit. "All right, Margaret, where's my bag of Tootsie Roll?" she said.

Kit gives Rebecca her bag of Tootsie Roll snack bars. Rebecca walked away towards the back of the library.

"Hey, Rubin! You're not eating candy in here!" Molly replied. Rebecca ignored her.

Samantha looked towards where Rebecca had gone and then back to Molly. She looked extremely antsy and apprehensive.

Molly shook her head as if to say, _'No. Don't do it.'_

Samantha sighed. She got up from the table and followed Rebecca.

Kit sighed loudly after Samantha had gone. Molly turned to face her.

Kit mouthed to her, 'I'm going. Are you?'

Molly shook her head.

Kit sighed. Then she got up and headed in the direction of Rebecca and Samantha.

Molly groaned. She dropped her arms down in defeat.

"Shoot," she muttered to herself as she got up from seat and followed the other three.

Felicity looked on with interest behind the statue.

Mrs. Ziminsky was going down the stairs to the basement.

As Rebecca gave Samantha's candy bar, Kit had already took a bite out of hers and was laughing hysterically. Rebecca laughed, shaking her head.

Samantha rolled her eyes as she took a bite out of hers. On the first hit, she coughed loudly, but then took a second one. Rebecca and Kit laughed.

"Chicks, girls cannot hold dey candy. That's what it is," Kit informed everyone in a strange voice.

Samantha giggled. "Do you know how popular I am?" she asked, smiling and looking loopy. "I am so popular. Everyone loves me at this school."

"Poor baby," Rebecca replied.

The three laughed so hard, Kit fell out of her seat.

As the rest continued eating their candy, Molly stepped out of another room. She was doing her tap-dance that she did on the school play. Samantha, Rebecca and Kit clapped and cheered, laughing hysterically. Felicity continued staring at the four of them by the statue.

After the high had worn itself off, Molly and Kit were sitting on black chairs, talking.

Mrs. Ziminsky is looking at the basement files, talking to herself. "Missus... Oh, Mrs. Littlefield. History of Slight mental illness? Wow, no wonder she's so fouled up."

Charlotte finds Mrs. Ziminsky peeking thorugh the basement files.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Ziminsky," Charlotte said.

"Hey, Charlotte, how you doin'?" Mrs. Ziminsky said to her.

"Good," Charlotte said.

"Good, what's up?" Mrs. Ziminsky said.

"Not much, what's happening, what are you doing in the basement files?" Charlotte told her.

"Oh, nothin' nothin', here. I'm just doing a little homework here," Mrs. Ziminsky said.

"Homework, huh?" Charlotte said.

"Yeah," Mrs. Ziminsky said.

Charlotte was laughing, comes over and looks at the files that Mrs. Ziminsky was looking at. "Confidential files...hmmm?" she said.

"Look, Charlotte, this is a highly sensitive area and I, I tell you something, certain people would be very very embarrassed. I would really appreciate it if this would be something that, that you and I could keep between us," Mrs. Ziminsky replied.

"What're you gonna do for me, Mrs. Ziminsky?" Charlotte told her.

"Well, what would you like?" Mrs. Ziminsky said back.

"Do you have 50 bucks?" Charlotte said.

"What?" Mrs. Ziminsky said.


	4. Felicity gives a speech

As Kit and Molly were laughing, Felicity was standing near the statue. "You got a middle name?" Molly asked Kit out of the blue.

"I guess," Kit answered.

Felicity, who had since been watching the other students from the statue, took a sudden interest in the conversation. "Your middle name is Milford," she said, walking toward the two girls. Molly and Kit gave her a confused look.

"Your birthday is May 19, 1923, you're 4'8 and , you weigh 85 pounds."

She sat down in a seat next to Kit.

"Wow. Are you a psychic?" Molly asked her.

"No," Felicity replied.

"Well, you would like to explain how you know so much about me?" Kit asked, a little freaked out by the fact that Felicity knew all that personal knowledge about her.

Felicity reached into her picnic basket and pulled out her wallet.

"I stole your wallet," she said, grinning.

"Give it back," she demanded.

"No," she said playfully.

"Give it," Kit said again.

Felicity reluctantly handed it to her. Kit scanned through her wallet to make sure everything was the way she'd left it.

"This is great. You're a thief," Kit continued.

"I'm not a thief," Felicity said rashly.

"Multi-talented," Kit remarked.

"What's there to steal, anyway?" Felicity asked. "Two bucks and a beaver shot!" she scoffed.

Molly's eyes widened. "A what?" she exclaimed.

"He's got a nudie pic in there. It's perverted!" Felicity added, smirking.

"Well, let's see it!" Molly exclaimed. Kit just blushed.

On the other side of the room, Rebecca was checking herself out in Samantha's compact mirror that she'd taken from her purse while Samantha was looking through Rebecca's wallet photos.

"Are all of these girls your boyfriends?" Samantha asked in disbelieve at all of the schoolboys Rebecca had in her wallet.

"Some of them," Rebecca answered.

"Well, what do you consider the rest?" Samantha asked.

"Well, some I consider my boyfriends and some I just... consider," Rebecca said.

Samantha gave Rebecca a confused look. "Consider what?" she asked.

"Whether I want to hang out with them or not," she told her.

"You don't believe in just one guy and one girl?" Samantha asked.

"Do you?" Rebecca asked.

"Yeah. I mean, that's the way it should be," Samantha said.

"Well, not for me," Rebecca said.

"Why not?" Samantha wanted to know.

"How come you've got so much crap in your purse?" Rebecca asked, wanting to change the subject.

"How come you've got so many boyfriends?" Samantha asked.

"I asked you first," Rebecca said.

Samantha shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I guess I just never throw anything away," she answered.

"Oh," Rebecca replied.

Meanwhile, Molly, Kit and Felicity were talking. Molly had taken a glimpse at Kit's ID and laughed.

"This has got to be the worst fake ID I've ever seen!" Molly exclaimed. Kit laughed as well.

"Do you just realize you made yourself seventy?" Molly asked, chuckling.

Kit nodded. "Yeah, I know. I goofed it," she admitted.

"What do you need an ID for, anyway?" Molly asked, tossing the wallet on the table.

"So I can vote!" Kit replied as if it were an obvious action to do.

Felicity perked up. "Hey, you lot wanna see what's in my basket?" she asked.

Kit and Molly looked at each other. "No," the two of them said in unison.

Felicity looked hurt. She glared at them resentfully and then dumped all of the contents of her basket on the table in front of them. Contents of junk Felicity had collected spilled out all over the table, including Rebecca's knife and lock.

"Holy smoke!" Molly exclaimed, her mouth open.

"Do you always carry this much crap in your basket?" Kit asked her.

"Yeah," Felicity replied. "I always carry this much crap in my basket. You never know when you might have to run away."

Kit gave her a weird look. "Are you going to be like one of them shopping-bag ladies?" she asked. "You know, sitting in alleyways, talking to buildings, that kind of thing?"

Felicity shook her head. "I'll do whatever I have to do," she answered.

"Well, why do you have to do anything?" Kit asked.

"Because my home life is... unsatisfying," Felicity replied.

"So what you're saying is that you'd subject yourself to the violent streets of California because your home life is unsatisfying?" Kit asked in disbelief.

"I don't have to live on the streets," Felicity said. "I could go to the ocean. I could go to the country, Israel, Africa, Ireland, Afghanistan."

Kit didn't answer her. Instead, she turned to Molly. "Molly, you want to get on this?" she asked. "Felicity here says she wants to run away because her home life is unsatisfying," she told her.

Molly looked deep in thought. Then she spoke, "Well, everyone's home life is unsatisfying," she answered. "And if it wasn't, people would want to live with their families forever."

"Yes. I understand that," Kit said, nodding. "But I think that hers goes beyond, you know what girls like you and me consider normal unsatisfying."

Felicity scowled. "Never mind! Forget it!" she snapped, shoving all of her junk back into her basket huffily. "Everything's cool!"

"What's the deal?" Molly asked.

"No. There's no deal, honeybunch. Forget it. Leave me alone," Felicity snapped.

Molly touched her arm. "Now wait a minute. You're carrying all that crap around in your basket. Either you really want to run away or you want people to think you want to run away."

"Eat dirt!" Felicity hissed as she got up and walked away.

"That girl is an island, with herself. Okay?" Kit replied, shaking her head.

Molly groaned and followed her. She found her by one of the library's many rows of books. Felicity was sitting, crouched against one of the shelves by herself.

"Hi," Molly said to her cautiously. "You wanna talk?"

"No!" Felicity answered.

"How come?" Molly asked.

"Go away!" Felicity snapped.

"Where do you want me to go?" Molly asked her.

"GO AWAY!" Felicity yelled more firmly.

Molly sighed. She turned around and began to leave.

Felicity's eyes filled with tears. "You have problems," she told Molly before she'd left.

"Oh, _I_ have problems?" Molly asked her angrily.

"You do anything anybody ever tells you to do! That is a problem!" Felicity snapped.

"Okay, fine. But I didn't dump my purse out onto the table and invite other people into my problems, did I?" Molly said.

Felicity looked down, her face wet with tears. Molly lightly touched Felicity's shoulder to comfort her. "So what's wrong?" he asked her gently. "What is it? Is it bad? Something really bad? Parents?" she asked.

Felicity brought her face up to look at her. Silent tears flowed down her face. "Yeah," she confessed. Molly nodded.

"What do they do to you?" she asked.

Felicity gulped. "They ignore me," she told her.

Molly nodded understandingly. She understood just how she felt. "Yeah," she replied. She sat down next to her and wrapped her arm around her and let Felicity cry on her shoulder.

Mrs. Ziminsky &amp; Charlotte are in the basement talking. "What did you want to be when you were young?" Mrs. Ziminsky told her.

"When I was a girl, I wanted to be Princess Margaret Rose," Charlotte told her.

"Charlotte, please don't be a goof! I'm trying to make a serious point here. Every day these kids get more and more arrogant," Mrs. Ziminsky exclaimed.

"Aw, come on Mrs. Ziminsky, the girls haven't changed, you did. You took a teaching position because you thought it'd be fun, right? Thought you could have summer vacations off and then you found out it was actually work and that really bummed you out," Charlotte said.

"These girls turned on me, they think I'm a big fuckin' joke," Mrs. Ziminsky sighed.

"Come on... Mrs. Ziminsky, if you were 16, what would you think of yourself, huh?" Charlotte said.

"Charlotte, do you think I give one rat's ass what these girls think of me?" Mrs. Ziminsky scowled.

"Yes I do," Charlotte said.

"You think about this, when you get old, these girls; when I get old, they're gonna be runnin' the country," Mrs. Ziminsky said to her.

"Yeah?" Mrs. Ziminsky said to her.

"Now this is the thought that wakes me up in the middle of the night... That when I get older, these girls are gonna take care of me," Mrs. Ziminsky said.

"I wouldn't count on it!" Charlotte said.


	5. The final hours

As the clock winded its ways down to 1:15, Samantha, Kit, Molly, Felicity and Rebecca sat on the floor of the library in a circle, discussing school among other things.

"What would you do for a million bucks, Molly?" Samantha asked her, smiling.

Molly frowned. "Hmmm, what would I do for a million bucks?" she repeated, her face creased with thought. "Well, I guess I'd do as little as I had to," she concluded.

Samantha snorted. "That's boring," she replied, rolling her eyes.

"Well, how am I supposed to answer?" Molly asked.

"The idea, Molly, is to search your mind for the absolute limit," Samantha told her. "Like, um," she said, trying to think of something daring and risky. "Like, would you walk to school naked?"

Molly laughed. "Would I have to get out of the car?" she asked.

Samantha shook her head mischievously. "Of course," she said.

"In the spring, or winter?" Molly asked.

"It doesn't matter... Spring," Samantha answered.

"In front of the school or in back of the school?" Molly answered.

"Either one," Samantha said.

"I'd do that, too," Felicity said. Everyone turned to look at her. "I'll do anything sexual. I don't need a million dollars to do it, either."

Samantha rolled her eyes. "You're lying," she said.

"I already have," Felicity insisted. "I've done just about everything there is. Except for a few things that are illegal. I'm a nymphomaniac!"

Samantha rolled her eyes again. "Lie," she said.

"Are your parents aware of this?" Kit asked, looking concerned.

"The only person I ever told was my shrink," Felicity replied.

"And what'd he do when you told her?" Molly asked.

Felicity grinned. "She nailed me!" she said.

Samantha looked disgusted. "Very nice," she said sarcastically.

"I don't think that from a legal standpoint what he did can be construed as rape because I paid her," Felicity added.

"Ugh! Do you have any idea how absolutely gross that sounds?" Samantha asked, her face twisted with horror and disgust.

"Well, the first few times," Felicity began.

"First few times!? You mean he's done it more than once?" Samantha asked.

Felicity shrugged. "Sure," she said.

"Are you crazy?" Samantha said.

"Obviously she's crazy if she's screwing her shrink," Kit said.

Felicity looked at Samantha with a straight face. "Have you ever done it?" she asked.

Samantha rolled her eyes. "I don't even have a psychiatrist," she said, trying to avoid Felicity's question.

"Okay, have you ever done it with a normal person?" Felicity rephrased.

"Now, didn't we already cover this?" Samantha asked annoyingly.

"You never answered the question," Rebecca pointed out.

"Look, I'm not about to discuss my private life with total strangers," Samantha replied.

"It's kind of like a double-edged sword, isn't it?" Felicity asked.

"A what?" Samantha asked, glaring at Felicity.

"Well, if you say you haven't had sex, you're a prude. If you say you have, you're a slut. It's a trap. You want to, but you can't. But when you do, you wish you didn't, right?" Felicity asked.

Samantha shook her head. "Wrong," she told her sneeringly.

"Or are you a tease?" Felicity asked.

"She's a tease," Rebecca concluded.

"Why don't you forget it?" Samantha asked again.

"Just admit it: You're a tease. All girls are teases," Molly replied.

"She's only a tease if what she does makes you hot," Rebecca clarified.

"I don't do anything!" Samantha exclaimed.

"That's why you're a tease," Felicity taunted.

Samantha smiled a little as she decided to turn the tables on Felicity.

"Okay, let me ask you a few questions," she said to Felicity. Felicity looked defensive.

"I've already told you everything!" Felicity cried out.

"No! Doesn't it bother you to sleep around without being in love? I mean, don't you want any respect?" Samantha asked.

Felicity smirked at Samantha. "I don't screw to get respect. That's the difference between you and me," she said to her evenly.

"Not the only difference, I hope," Samantha remarked.

"Face it, Sam," Rebecca replied. "You're a tease."

"I'm not a tease!" Samantha insisted.

"Sure you are. You said it yourself. Sex is a weapon. You use it to get respect," Rebecca asked her.

Samantha's mouth flew open. "I never said that! She twisted my words around!" she protested.

"Are you medically frigid or is it psychological?" Rebecca asked, trying to push Samantha's buttons.

"I didn't mean it that way! You lot are putting words into my mouth!" Samantha asked.

"Well, we wouldn't if you'd just answer the question," Rebecca replied, rolling her eyes.

"Why don't you just answer the question?" Kit agreed.

"Be honest," Molly added.

"Yeah, no big deal," Rebecca said.

"Yeah, come on! Answer it!" Kit said.

"Answer the question, Samantha!" Molly prodded.

"Talk to us!" Rebecca said.

"Come on, answer the question!" Molly &amp; Kit asked her.

"It's easy, just one question!" Rebecca asked her.

Samantha put both of her hands to her head, feeling the immense pressure she was under.

"NO! I NEVER DID IT!" Samantha screamed, shutting everyone else up.

Everyone was finally quiet. A second later, Felicity spoke up.

"I never did it, either," she admitted, nearly smiling. Everyone turned to look at her in shock and confusion. "I'm not a nymphomaniac. I'm a compulsive liar."

Samantha's face went red with anger and embarrassment. "You are such a bitch!" she raged, glaring at Felicity. "You did that on purpose just to mess me up!"

"I would do it, though," Felicity explained. "If you love someone, it's okay."

Samantha shook her head with contempt and anger. "I can't believe you," she ranted. "You're so weird. You don't say anything all day and then when you open your mouth, you unload all these tremendous lies all over me!"

"You're just pissed off because she got you to admit to something you didn't want to admit to," Molly said.

"Okay, fine! But it doesn't make it any less bizarre!" Samantha continued.

"What's bizarre?" Molly asked. "I mean, we're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it than others, that's all."

"How are you bizarre?" Samantha asked her.

"She can't think for herself," Felicity said, speaking for her.

Molly nodded. "She's right," she said. Everyone went quiet for a second or two.

"Hey," Molly spoke up. "Do you girls want to know what I did to get in here? I threw ink on Alison Hargate's tap costume."

Kit looked surprised. "That was you?" she asked.

"Yeah, you know her?" Molly asked.

Kit nodded. "Yeah. I know her," she said.

"Well, I guess you know how skinny and weak she is, huh? When Mrs. LaVonda saw the ink on Alison's costume, I heard that most of the ink dripped on Alison's socks and shoes, too," Molly said.

Samantha winced. "Oh, my God," she said.

"And the bizarre thing is, is that I did it for my old man. I tortured this poor girl, because I wanted her to think that I was cool. So, I'm waiting at the dance studio for class to start, polishing my tap dancing shoes... and I started thinking about my father, and his attitude about weakness. And the next thing I knew, I jumped on top of him and started hugging him so hard... and my friends, they just laughed and cheered me on. Afterwards, when I was sittin' in Mrs. Ziminsky's office, all I could think about was Alison's mother and Alison havin' to go home and explain what happened to her and the humiliation she must've felt. It must've been unreal," Molly paused as she starts crying. "I mean, how do you apologize for something like that? There's no way. It's all because of me and my old man. He's like this mindless machine that I can't even relate to anymore." Molly mimes her father, "'Olly-Molly, you've got to be number one! I won't tolerate any losers in this family. You're not a born loser!' You know, sometimes, he could forget all about me," Molly finished.

"I think your old man and my old man should get together and go bowling," Rebecca answered. Molly laughs for a split-second.

Kit stood up, wiping his eyes. "It's like me, you know, with my grades, like, when I step outside myself kinda, and when I look in at myself you know? And I see me and I don't like what I see, I really don't," she said.

"What's wrong with you? Why don't you like yourself?" Samantha said to her.

"Because I'm stupid, because I'm failing arts and crafts. See we had this assignment to make a boat. We had eight weeks to do it and it was like a pirate ship. When it was time to put my boat in the water, it was supposed to float, my boat didn't float, it sank and I got an "F" on it. Never got a "F" in my life. When I signed up, you know, for the course I mean. I thought I was playing it real smart, you know. 'Cause I thought, I'll take cooking, it'll be such an easy way to maintain my grade point average," Kit continued.

"Why'd you think it'd be easy?" Rebecca asked her.

"Have you seen some of the dopes that take art class?" Kit asked her back.

"I take art class, you must be an idiot!" Rebecca replied.

"I'm an idiot because I can't make a boat float?" Kit asked.

"No, you're a genius because you can't make a boat float," Rebecca continued.

"What do you know about Trigonometry?" Kit asked her.

"I could care less about Trigonometry," Rebecca replied.

"Rebecca, did you know without Trigonometry there'd be no engineering?" Kit asked.

"Without boats, you'll have no water!" Rebecca replied.

"Okay," Samantha butted in. "So neither one of you is any better than the other one."

Felicity feels left out. "I can write with my toes! I can also eat, brush my teeth," Felicity replied, feeling left out.

"With your feet?" Samantha asked.

"Play Heart &amp; Soul on the piano," Felicity finished.

"I can make spaghetti!" Kit said.

"What can you do?" Samantha asked Molly.

"I can, um, throw ink on all of your dresses," she said, giggling a little.

"I wanna see what Samantha can do!" Rebecca replied, turning to Samantha.

Samantha shook her head. "I can't do anything," she said modestly.

"Now, everybody can do something," Rebecca replied.

Samantha sighed. "Well, I can do this one thing. No, wait. Forget it. It's way too embarrassing."

"Come on, do it. I wanna see!" Felicity said.

Samantha sighed again. "Okay, but you girls have to promise not to laugh."

Everyone, including Rebecca, promised.

Samantha reached into her purse and pulled out her hair ribbon. "I cannot believe I'm doing this," she muttered. She put the hair ribbon to make a long ponytail. Everyone clapped with enthusiasm, except for Rebecca, who was clapping very slowly with sarcasm.

"Where'd you learn that?" Molly asked.

"At the Madison Square in New York City, when I was five," Samantha replied as she put the lipstick back into her purse.

"That was great, really great, Samantha," Rebecca drawled sarcastically. "My image of you is totally blown!"

Felicity glared at her. "You're a rat," she said to Rebecca. "Don't do that to her! You promised you wouldn't laugh!"

"Am I laughing?" Rebecca asked her.

"You fucking prick!" Molly replied, glaring at Rebecca.

Rebecca glared back. "What do you care what I think, anyway? I don't even count, right? I could disappear forever and it wouldn't make any difference. I may as well not even exist at this school, remember?" she asked, quoting Molly's words from earlier in the day. She turned to Samantha. "And you don't like me, anyway," she replied.

"You know, I have just as many feelings as you do and it hurts just as much when somebody steps all over them!" Samantha replied, her face blotchy with tears.

"GOD, you're so pathetic!" Rebecca said angrily. "Don't you ever... **EVER** compare yourself to me, okay? You've got everything and I've got zilch! Fuckin' Rapunzel, right? This school would probably shut down if you ever left. Queenie isn't here!" she exclaimed.

She glanced at the hat Samantha was wearing. "I like that hat, Samantha," she said.

"Shut up," Samantha said quietly.

"Is that an expensive hat, Samantha?" Rebecca asked her tauntingly.

"Shut up!" Samantha said, increasing her voice.

"I bet it is, did you work for the money for that hat?" Rebecca continued.

"Shut your mouth!" Samantha said furiously.

"Or was that a birthday gift your uncle gave you?"

"SHUT UP!" Samantha screamed lividly as she begins to cry.

"I bet that was a birthday gift! Perhaps a Christmas gift, too! Right? You know what I got for Christmas this year? It was a banner fuckin' year at the old Rubin family! I got a bagful of candy. My brother Victor teased me and said "Hey! Smoke up, Becky!" Okay, so go home and cry to your uncle, don't cry here, okay?" Rebecca finished.

Molly shook her head. "My goodness, are we going to be like our parents?" she asked.

Samantha shook her head firmly. "Not me," she said. "Not ever."

"It's unavoidable," Felicity replied. "It just happens."

"What happens?" Samantha asked.

"When you grow up, your heart dies," Felicity explained, on the verge of tears.

Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Who cares?" she asked.

"I care," Felicity said, almost in a whisper. Her eyes were full of tears.

Kit looked up. "Um, I was just thinking," she said. "I mean, I know it's kind of a weird time, but I was just wondering, uh, what's going to happen to all of us come Monday? When we're all really together again? I mean, I consider you guys my friends. I'm not wrong, am I?"

"No," Molly replied.

"So, on Monday, what happens?" Kit asked.

"Are we all still friends, you mean?" Samantha asked.

"Yeah," Molly finished.

"Do you want the truth, Molly?" Samantha asked.

Kit nodded. "Yes. I want the truth."

"I don't think so," Samantha admitted.

"Well, do you mean with all of us or just Rebecca?" Felicity questioned.

"With all of you," Samantha stated.

"That's a real nice attitude, Samantha," Molly told her bitterly.

"Oh, be honest, Molly," Samantha replied. "What if Kit came walking up to you in the hall on Monday? What would you do? I mean, picture this: You're there with all your tap girls. I know exactly what'd you do: You'd say hi to her and then when she left, you'd make fun of her so all your friends wouldn't think that you really liked her."

Molly shook her head. "No way," she said.

"'Kay, what if I came up to you?" Felicity asked.

"The same old thing," Samantha told her.

"YOU ARE A BITCH!" Rebecca shouted suddenly at Samantha furiously.

"Why? Because I'm telling the truth? That makes me a bitch?" Samantha asked angrily.

"NO! Because you know how dirty that is to do to someone and you don't have the guts to stand up to your friends and tell them you're gonna like who you wanna like!" Rebecca finished.

"Okay, what about you, you hypocrite?" Samantha snapped. "Why don't you take Felicity to one of your heavy metal vomit parties? Or take Kit out to the playground at lunch to get high? What about Molly for that matter? What about me? What would your friends say if we were walking down the hall together? They'd laugh their butts off and you'd probably tell them you had nothing to do with me so they'd forgive you for being seen with me."

Rebecca looked angry. "Don't you EVER talk about my friends!" she shouted. "You don't even KNOW any of my friends, you don't LOOK at any of my friends and you certainly wouldn't condescend to SPEAK to any of my friends! So you just stick to the things you know... shopping, nail polish, your Uncle's Packard and your poor-rich-dead mother in the Caribbean!"

"SHUT UP!" Samantha screamed furiously then starts crying.

"And as far as being concerned about what's gonna happen when you and I walk down the hallways at school, you can forget it! 'Cause it's never gonna happen! Just bury your head in the sand, and wait for your next winter party!" Rebecca shouted.

"I hate you!" Samantha bawled while crying.

"Yeah? Good!" Rebecca finished.

There was silence.

"Then, I assume that Felicity and I are better people than you, huh?" Kit asked. "Us weirdoes?" She turned to face Felicity. "Would you do that to me?" she asked her.

"I don't have any friends," Felicity told her.

"Well, if you did," Kit said, giving her a scenario.

Felicity shook her head. "No," she replied. "I don't think those are the kinds of friends I'd have in mind."

Kit gave her a small smile. Then she turned to face everyone else. "Well, I just want to tell each of you that I wouldn't do that," she said truthfully. "I wouldn't and will not! Because I think that's real dirty."

"Your friends wouldn't mind because they look up to us," Samantha said.

Kit took a deep breath as she tried not to cry, but instead she almost laughed.

"You're so conceited, Samantha," she said, shaking her head as he tried to wipe the tears from her eyes. "You're so conceited. You're so full of yourself. Why are you like that?"

"I'm not saying that to be conceited," Samantha said as she started to cry again. "I hate it! I hate having to go along with everything my friends say!"

"Well, then why do you do it?" Kit asked.

"I don't know. I really don't. You just don't understand, Kit. You're not friends with the same kinds of people Molly and I are friends with! You know, you just don't understand the pressure they can put on you!"

Kit gave Samantha a shocked look. "I don't understand what? You think that I don't understand pressure?! Well, fuck you! Fuck you!" Kit yelled. She bowed her head as she started to cry. "Do you girls know why I'm here, today?" she asked. "DO YOU?!"

She brought her head up. "I'm here because Mrs. Rundell found a gun in my locker."

"Why'd you have a gun in your locker?" Molly asked her, somewhat sternly.

"I tried. You put the boat in the water, it was supposed to float but it didn't. It sank, I mean..." Kit said.

"What's the gun for, Kit?" Molly asked again.

"Just forget it," Kit said.

"You brought it up, Kit!" Molly finished.

"I can't have an "F". I can't have it. My parents can't have it. My brother Charlie can't have it either. Even if I aced the rest of the semester, I'm still only at a "B". And everything's ruined for me!" Kit finished.

"Oh, Kit," Samantha said sympathetically. Kit bashed a chair with her fist in anger.

"So, I consider my options, you know?" Kit continued.

"No, Kit! Killing yourself is not an option!" Samantha exclaimed.

"Well, I didn't do it, did I? No, I don't think so!" Kit snapped.

"Was it a handgun?" Felicity asked.

"No, it was a flare gun. It went off in my locker," Kit said.

"Really?" Molly asked, trying hard not to laugh.

"It's not funny," Kit said. Everyone else began to laugh. After a while, Kit started laughing. "Yes, it is," she agreed. "Fucking boat was destroyed," she added.

"You wanna know what I did to get in here?" Felicity asked. She smiled, not waiting for a reply. "Nothing. I didn't have anything better to do," she admitted.

Everyone cracked up.

"You're laughing at me!" Felicity exclaimed.

"No, we aren't!" Molly said.

Felicity began laughing. "Yeah, you are," she said.

Everyone fell on the floor with laughter.

Later that day, after the five students finished dancing in the library to a small magical radio Felicity had smuggled in from home, Rebecca made her way back to the closet through the ceiling. Molly, Samantha, Felicity and Kit all sat on the second story railing chatting with each other.

"Kit?" Samantha asked.

"Yeah?" Kit said.

"Are you going to write your paper?" Samantha asked her.

"Yeah. Why?" Kit said.

"Well, don't you think it's kind of a waste for all of us to write a paper, don't you think?" Samantha warned her.

"But that's what Mrs. Ziminsky wants us to do," Kit said.

"True, but I think we'd all kind of say the same thing," Samantha said.

"You just don't want to write your paper," Kit said.

Samantha blushed. "True, but you're very smart, Kit."

"Please. I'm not half as smart as you, Samantha."

Samantha laughed. "Kit, you're the one who has the special way of words. I'm no poet when it comes to writing creative things. We all trust you," she said.

Kit glanced at Molly and Felicity, who both nodded in approval.

"Yeah," Kit said proudly. "All right, I'll do it."

Samantha smiled at her. "Good," she said with a reassuring grin.

Molly began writing the paper and Kit was sitting down with boredom. "I'll be right back," Samantha said to Molly and Kit.

Samantha found Rebecca in the supply closet.

"Are you lost?" Samantha asked teasingly. She smiled at her, folding her arms.

Samantha reached out and kissed Rebecca. After the brief kiss, the two of them smiled at each other.

"Why'd you do that?" Rebecca asked her.

"Because I knew you wouldn't," she told her. There was a brief silence before Samantha spoke again.

"Tell me something," Samantha said. "Were you really disgusted about my hair ribbon?" she asked, referring to the small trick she had done with the lipstick earlier.

"Truth?" Rebecca asked. He then smiled at her. "No," she answered.

Samantha smiled at her, throwing her arms around her.

In the library, Kit had finished her paper. She kissed the top of it with approval and happiness. She gave herself a pat on the shoulder for a job well done. Then she laughed at her herself and gave herself a congratulatory punch in the arm.

At the end of the detention, the five students walked down the corridor to their respective places. Charlotte was sweeping the floors.

"See you, Kit," Charlotte said to her.

"See you next Saturday," Rebecca told her cheerfully as the five of them passed her.

"You bet," she replied.

After they left the building, Kit gets into her dad's car and leaves. Molly and Felicity hug each other. A few seconds later, Felicity gets into her car.

Molly's father arrives and looks at her, then at Felicity, then at her again. They drive off.

Then Samantha gives her a scarf and puts it on Rebecca's hands. They hug and she gets into her car. She leaves. Rebecca puts on the scarf around her neck and leaves.

Back in the library, Mrs. Ziminsky went inside to collect the essays. Instead, she found one parchment on the table Kit Kittredge had been sitting at. She picked it up and began to read:

"Dear Mrs. Ziminsky,

We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice an entire Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. But we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us. In the simplest of terms, in the most convenient of definitions..."

A few minutes later, Rebecca is walking through George Lane County Park.

"But what we found out is that each of us is...

Kit: A brain,

Molly: And an athlete,

Felicity: And a basket case,

Samantha: A princess,

Rebecca: And a criminal.

Does that answer your question?

Sincerely yours,

The Breakfast Club."

A couple of seconds later, Rebecca thrusts her fist in the air with a quiet cheer.

The End


End file.
